The Lone Vixen - EDITING

Chapter Thirty-Five: Now You Know

It seemed impossible, but in the confusion surrounding Emilie Agreste, Hawkmoth had grabbed Ladybug and held his knife to her throat. "Don't move!" he yelled at the heroes. Everyone tensed. "I am going to take her miraculous, and if any of you comes close, I will slit her thoat." He nodded at Mayura, who came forward. Her gloved fingers delicately removed the earrings from Ladybug's ears. Pink bubbles surrounded her body, and Marinette was left behind. She had tears streaming down her face, but a determined expression. When the earrings were handed to Hawkmoth, he threw Marinette back to her friends.

"Mari!" Chat Noir held her close to him, her sobs hitting his chest in waves. "Shh, it's okay. I've got you. How dare you?" he asked, looking at his father, who showed no remorse. "How dare you threaten the life of the girl I love?" Marinette blushed into Chat's chest, but didn't move. "We could have moved past mom, and looked forward to other extraordinary women in our lives! Mom would not have wanted things to go this way!"

"Your mother was cruelly taken away from us. She would do anything to see her little boy all grown up."

"Is that why you were going to kill me? You were so willing to end my life to bring her back."

"That was before I constructed my full plan. Originally, I was just taking a hero out of the running to stop me. And then, I realized I could use her miraculous to bring my true love." He said as he slipped the miraculous of creation into his ears. The railing directly behind him and Mayura reflected the pink light of Tikki's appearance, making it brighter and more apparent than Hawkmoth would have liked.

"Since when have you had your ears pierced? I had to get mine done mid-battle!"

"Fads come and go son." Tikki floated next to Hawkmoth and knew exactly what was going on. She saw Marinette crying into Chat's chest and almost broke down. "Once, it was cool for men to have pierced ears." Hawkmoth grumbled as Mayura stepped away from him, her hands behind her back. 'This is it.' Alya thought. 'It's time.' She ran forward with her hand outstretched.

"Alya, no!" Carapace shouted. As she was running, Alya saw Hawkmoth extend his arms and glow with pink-purple light. Mayura saw absolutely nothing until Alya closed her first around the peacock miraculous. It all happened in a blur. Mayura didn't realize that her hand was around the miraculous, and threw her over the rail. "Alya!" As Alya fell, the miraculous fell out of her hand, and she saw Chat Noir let go of Marinette and rush towards his father. She also saw Carapace throw his shield down and ride it down the stairs, something she'd been telling him to do since the day the two heroes met face-to-face. That didn't quite go as planned. Alya could hear the Parisians below scream, and her whole life flashed before her eyes. The birth of Ella and Etta. Family outings. Moving to Paris. Her first day of school. Moments with Marinette, Adrien, and Nino. Luka. Being Rena Rouge. It all passed her in a flash. Was this it? Alya heard a man scream her name, and something was thrown at her. It sparkled with a certain magical quality to it. It seemed so familiar, and yet so foreign.

"Transform!" the same man screamed, his voice being carried away by the whipping winds. Transform? She was halfway down the tower now. What did he mean by transform? Transform. It dawned on her what had been thrown so carefree at her. It was her miraculous. Even closer to the ground now. She reached her hand upwards, just barely grabbing the pendant between her index and middle finger. The ground was less than one-hundred feet away now. It was now or never. Eighty feet. Sixty feet. Forty feet. She slipped the necklace around her neck, and Trixx appeared, floating beside her.

"Let's pounce!" she screamed at the same time a man clad in green jumped from the ground. He held her bridal style as her transformation snaked up her body. As her mask formed, he whispered for his special ability. They were surrounded in a thick protective bubble, the green sheen catching the eyes of civilians as it slowly lowered the people inside to the ground.